Bolton Valley, VT (February 5): With UVM Carnival’s Friday race cancelled, the TDBanknorth Eastern Cup races at Bolton Valley this weekend were dominated by the college skiers. Sunday’s 10km Freestyle event for men was won by Dartmouth Outing Club’s Ben True and the women’s event by DOC’s Kristina Trygstad-Saari.
Originally scheduled as a pursuit race at the Putney School in Putney, VT, the rain forced the organizers to move the event to the only snow in New England – Bolton Valley. Further rain on Saturday night reduced the courses to a 2km loop, up and down Bolton’s steepest trail — World Cup. The J2s raced it twice, for a “5km†and the men and women skied 4 laps for a challenging “10km†race.
Behind DOC’s Trygstad-Saari ‘s time of 31:15.0 was Middlebury College’s Evelyn Dong by just 17 seconds. Then, Dartmouth skiers packed in three more women — 3rd,Hannah Dreissigacker , 4th, Elsa Sargent, and 5th, Susan Dunklee. The top J1 was Burke Mountain Academy’s Ida Sargent in 7th, and her teammate, Alice Nelson was the first OJ skier, in 8th. Ford Sayre’s Dorcas Wonsavage (Hanover, NH), was the first Master skier in 9th. Master skiers Ruth Hall (Coastal Nordic/Cumberland, ME) was 48th, and Carlie Geer (Craftsbury Nordic/Hinesburg, VT) was 65th.
The course conditions were most challenging for the women, who began their race in a driving rainstorm. Course workers continued to shovel snow to protect the bare spots and snow bridges, even with 77 women on the 2km course at the same time. Burke Mountain Academy coach, Matt Whitcomb, who stood at the major downhill corner throughout the women’s race, commented on the “huge discrepancy in the women’s downhill abilities. Some women made time, as much as 15 seconds, each time they skied this downhill, and other’s lost just as much. But the race was still won on the hills.â€
Spectators enjoyed several crashes, near misses, and complete off-the-course recoveries, especially during the men’s race. Nearly 120 men raced 4 times around the loop. Keeping Dartmouth’s Ben True honest, J1 skier Patrick O’Brien, from the Stratton Mountain School, finished just 9 seconds behind him, with a time of 27:31. O’Brien finished 34 and 39 seconds ahead of UVM’s Anders Folleras (3rd) and Middlebury College’s Tim Reynolds (4th). Burke Mountain Academy’s Zach Wetherell was the first OJ skier, in 8th place, Team Sleepy Hollow/Rossignol’s Eli Enman, who is preparing for next weekend’s American Birkebeiner, was the first Senior, in 9th. Jon Arne Enevoldsen, coach for the Green Mountain School in Waitsfield, VT, was the first Master skier, in 16th place.
Just as impressive is Manhattan Nordic (as in, NY, NY) Master racer Tim Donahue’s 39th overall. “We have the best rollerskiing anywhere,†explained Donahue of his results. “I grew up alpine skiing, and learned to cross-country ski at school in Minnesota, so I’ve had my time on snow, too.â€
If global warming persists, we may all be training like Manhattan Nordic.
Nat Lucy (Mt. Washington Nordic/Intervale, NH) was the first M4 skier, in 71st. Dyan Nirmegh Huntington, VT) was the first M5 skier in 79th, and Doug Armstrong (Mt. Washington Nordic/N. Conway, NH) was the top M6 in 103rd.
In the boys’ J2 5km race it was again the Stratton Mountain School duo of Kyle Dewey and Chase Marston, separated only by 9/10ths of a second. Third place went to Ethan Dreissigacker, (Craftsbury Nordic/Morrisville, VT), 42 seconds back, who had his own duel with Green Mountain Valley School’s David Sinclair (Waitsfield, VT). Dreissigacker was just 3/10ths of a second ahead!
On the girl’s side, the J2 race was won for the second time this weekend, by Stratton Mountain School’s Sophie Caldwell. Caldwell had a huge lead of 1:00.2 ahead of Maine Coast Nordic’s Holly Whitney — a terrific result for Whitney, who was just 6/10ths ahead of Stratton’s Megan Killigrew (3rd) and 8 seconds ahead of Stratton’s Karmen Whitham (4th). Ford Sayre placed two in the top 10 — Tara Geraghty-Moates (West Fairlee, VT)-6th and Beth Taylor (Norwich, VT)-10th. And so did Gunstock Nordic Association, with Danielle Baron and Evgenia Badamshina, both of Gilford, NH, in 8th and 9th.
The final races of the TD Eastern Cup series and the New England Junior Olympic qualifiers are the Silver Fox Trot, in Hanover, NH, Saturday, February 18th, and the Cheri Walsh Memorial, in Holderness, NH, Sunday, February 19th. The New England Junior Olympic team will be named at Holderness, following the race. The Cheri Walsh Memorial is the NENSA Club Championship, with NENSA Club teams of 4 men or 3 women vying for the title of best overall Club.
For complete results and photos, go to www.NENSA.net > Results.
TDBanknorth Eastern Cup
Putney Ski Club’s J2 Girls 5km Freestyle — top 10
1. Sophie Caldwell, Stratton Mountain School/Peru, VT, 15:25.0
2. Holly Whitney, Maine Coast Nordic/Bowdoinham, ME, 16:25.2
3. Megan Killigrew, Stratton Mountain School/Peru, VT, 16:25.8
4. Karmen Whitham, Stratton Mountain School/ Readsboro, VT, 16:33.8
5. Kaitlynn Miller, Stowe Nordic Outing Club/Morrisville, VT, 16:40.7
6. Tara Geraghy-Moates, Ford Sayre/West Fairlee, VT, 16:43.0
7. Liza Goodwin, NYSEF/Keene, NY, 16:54.7
8. Danielle Baron, Gunstock Nordic Association/Gilford, NH, 17:00.2
9. Evgenia Badamshina, Gunstock Nordic Association/Gilford, NH, 17:33.2
10. Beth Taylor, Ford Sayre/Norwich, VT, 17:35.8
TDBanknorth Eastern Cup
Putney Ski Club’s J2 Boys 5km Freestyle — top 10
1. Kyle Dewey, Stratton Mountain School/Weston, VT, 13:43.8
2. Chase Marston, Stratton Mountain School/Charlotte, VT, 13:44.7
3. Ethan Dreissigacker, Craftsbury Nordic Ski Club/Morrisville, VT, 14:26.1
4. David Sinclair, green Mountain Valley School/ Waitsfield, VT, 14:27.4
5. Alex Schulz, Craftsbury Nordic Ski club/Johnson, VT, 14:43.9
6. Joey Bard, Maine Winter Sports Center/ Woodland, ME, 14:55.7
7. Dylan Grald, Ford Sayre/Grantham, NH, 15:01.0
8. Lucas Milliken, Maine Coastal Nordic/N.Yarmouth, ME, 15::04.9
9. Will Anderson, Gunstock Nordic Ski Association/Norwich, VT, 15:09.1
10. Andrew Levesque, maine Winter Sports Center/Madawaska, ME, 15:16.4
TDBanknorth Eastern Cup
Putney Ski Club’s Women’s 10km Freestyle — top 10
1. Kristina Trygstad-Saari, Dartmouth Outing Club/Hanover, NH 31:15.0
2. Evelyn Dong, Middlebury College/Middlebury VT, 31:32.7
3. Hannah Dreissigacker, Dartmouth Outing Club/Morrisville, VT, 31:57.6
4. Elsa Sargent, Dartmouth Outing Club, Hanover, NH, 32:094
5. Susan Dunklee, Dartmouth outing Club/Hanover, NH, 32:12:3
6. Cassidey Edwards, Middlebury College/Middlebury, VT, 32:43.3
7. Ida Sargent, Burke Mountain Academy/Orleans, VT, 32:44.5
8. Alice Nelson, Burke Mountain Academy/Hanover, NH 32:49.5
9. Dorcas Wonsavage, Ford Sayre/Hanover, NH, 33:06.0
10. Annelies Cook, Maine Winter Sports Center/Saranac Lake, NY, 33:14.4
TDBanknorth Eastern Cup
Putney Ski Club’s Men’s 10km Freestyle — top 10
1. Ben True, Dartmouth Outing Club/Hanover, NH 27:21.8
2. Patrick O’Brien, Stratton Mountain School/Putney, VT, 27:31.0
3. Anders Folleras, University of Vermont/Burlington, VT, 28:05.3
4. Tim Reynolds, Middlebury College/Middlebury, VT, 28:10.3
5. Dylan McGuffin, Gunstock Nordic Association/Northfield, NH, 28:15.1
5.Max Hopkins, Dartmouth Outing Club/Hanover, NH, 28:15.1
7.Nils Koons, WatervilleMaine/Sidney, ME, 28:26.6
8. Zachary Wetherell, Burke Mountain Academy/Dalton, MA, 28:28.9
9. Eli Enman, Sleepy Hollow-Rossignol/Huntington, VT, 28::29.9
10. Steven bedard, Berkshire Trails Nordic/Cheshire, MA, 28:31.8
For complete results and photos, go to www.NENSA.net > Results.
